Tuesday, June 29, 2004

Biking home from work last night, I was hit by a truck. So they tell me, I woke up in hospital this morning. Got a bunch of cuts and hurt in several places. Still need to pick the bike up from the fire hall. Police say the guy in the truck was at fault. That's all I know.

Sunday, June 27, 2004

We we're given 5th row VIP tickets to Quidam, the Cirque du Soleil show currently playing in Calgary. Unlike last year's very abstract Alegría, Quidam told a story you could follow if you paid close attention. It's the story of a family that has become creaky and brittle and how they've placed their spirit, or joy in a cage.

There's a lot going on and it's easy to miss the story developing. You need to keep an eye on the red balloons as they represent the joy of life. As well keep an eye on what's happening at the back of the stage. In mid act one of the main characters will appear at the back edge of the stage to watch, tying what's going on in the foreground to the developing story.

I found the Aerial Contortion in silk particularly moving. Isabelle Vaudelle acted out birth, growth, beauty and then death by suicide, the mother of the family then carries her body off stage. What did Isabelle's dance represent? Was it a tragedy in the mother's life, her own spirit? I don't know, but it was beautiful and disturbing at the same time.

But the show didn't stay heavy for long, their was some brilliant comedy involving members of the audience. The clowning didn't add much to the story but lightened the mood considerably.

In the end the family is reunited with their joy, where else but at the Circus? OK so the ending is lame, but what other hope would you expect Cirque Du Soleil to put forth?

Thursday, June 24, 2004

You were too busy steering the conversation toward the Lord/ to hear the voice of the Spirit saying 'shut the fuck up'/ you thought it must be the Devil trying to make you go astray/ besides it couldn't have been the Lord, since you don't believe he talks that way

hmmm... I may have material for my next sermon. I've definatly felt that way, with myslef and with some evangelical friends. Sometimes we don't know when to listen.

If you are not willing to be a homeless person's friend, then who will? If you are not willing to be his/her friend, why would that homeless person care what you think is best? Where does a homeless person belong? With you? If not, then where?

- The Homeless Guy

I'm meeting with a guy from the Center of Hope on Friday to talk about our Church getting more involved with the meal program. We already serve food, but we want to go and eat, listen and talk with the people there. This comes about in no small part due to a previous post from Kevin about a group of people who were willing to the feed but not eat with the homeless.

Friday, June 18, 2004

Yup the prairies have a beauty all their own. Course I love the mountains, going Biking in Revelstoke this weekend, and I'm from the Maritimes and sunrise over the Atlantic is amazing, but so is big sky country.

Sunday, June 13, 2004

Ok so on Wed night I went biking in Canmore in an area known as the Bench Lands. It's in the north east corner of Canmore, no where near the Nordic Center, I was wrong.

The slow group on Wed was made up of Alan and Ian, who were leading the ride, and three terminally good looking twenty something females. And your truly, over weight 30 something. At one point when I caught up to them they were talking about the Marathons they run. Yeah not good for the my inner chauvinist ego.

I felt like I need a group bellow slow riding, a Bike and Hike group. Oh well that's what I go for: to challenge myself. I just wish the gap wasn't so big or apparent.

Friday, June 11, 2004

Well, it's time for me to start thinking about my own desert/wilderness experience. That is, after all, the substance of my first assignment.

Given that I'm not as introspective as I should be exercises like this aren't easy. It seems to me that my eremos is not one of sight or of sound... but of the mind. The aspect of the eremos experience that I can currently relate to is that of leaving behind both the expectations of others and of self and attempting to listen soley to God.

In the desert you realize in order to survive you can't worry about what you "should" do. In the heat and dryness you only have enough energy and resouces to focus on the things you must do. Right now I'm trying to differentiate between those things - what I should do to please others and self and those things I must do to please God.

NOTE: I just realized I was supposed to write about our response in the desert. Unfortunately, in the desert you can't always follow your plan, you must move with the rhythm of the creation around you.

Wednesday, June 09, 2004

Yes, this is how long it takes for me to read through one article. I'm starting to think the 3rd week of Sept. deadline maybe be a tad early.

For those of you interested in language, our word "hermit" comes from "eremites", which is one who chooses to live in an "eremos" or desert/wilderness. Hermits actually seek places of isolation, desperation and danger in which to live. Why? Because they know these places provide the greatest opportunity to develop our spirit's capacities and to truly know God.

So, must we all become hermits in order to truly know God. Of course not. We just need to have eyes that see the eremos around us, then respond accordingly. Some examples of eremos that we can encounter include: broken relationships, memories of abuse, loss of employement, physical injuries, church controversies, etc. Some words that describe an eremos: wandering, alone, thirsty, broken, cut off, uncertain, chaotic, and so on. If you can relate to any of these circumstances or words you may be in the midst of an eremos experience.

It is true that we do not choose many of these circumstances, yet in a way, when we hand our lives over to God we should know that he will eventually take us through these various experiences to help transorm us into the people he has created us to be.

"With the Bow River on one side and the jutting, snow-capped Canadian Rockies on the other, the Canmore Nordic Centre is the model venue for a World Cup cross-country event...Find seven more like this, and the World Cup would never have to go anywhere else."
-Velo News, August 14, 2000

It's also great fun for recreational riding.

Designed and developed for the cross-country ski and biathlon events of the 1988 Winter Olympic Games, the Canmore Nordic Centre offers you over 60 km of exhilarating trails, ranging from rolling doubletrack to plenty of steep and gnarly singletrack. A stop on the World Cup mountain bike circuit from 1998-2000, the Nordic Centre has challenged the world's best riders.

Tuesday, June 08, 2004

I used to say for years that story was the most important thing to us, Then I realized that all the other studios were saying the same thing. They say that and then they go and produce crap. What you say doesn't mean a damn thing. It's what you do that matters.

Friday, June 04, 2004

For the next little while I'll be working on some papers for a course on the desert/wilderness theme in Christian spirituality so I thought I'd (actually Dave told me to) share some thoughts on a subject that is still unfamiliar to me.

The reason I say "desert/wilderness" is b/c the greek word - eremos - can be interepretted either way (Compare NIV and NLT) and actually refers to a lonely place, uninhabited by people. It may be a dry, parched land, or an ocean storm threatening to drown you. It may be a steep cliff off of which you could fall if the slightest breeze comes your way. It may be a thick forest with the constant threat of dangerous beasts. Essentially, an eremos is a place without the companionship, resources or distractions of others. We are alone in the eremos and we fear for our survival.

If you haven't been there yet, you will be someday. When that day comes you will be left with only yourself, your true self, in the presence of your Creator; and the only stance that will allow you to survive will be one of humility, gratitude and absolute reliance upon him.

Tuesday, June 01, 2004

I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.

It dawned on me this week that there no quality given to each of these acts, no I was thirsty and you gave me something really good to drink, I was sick and you stopped to visit with just the right words. It's so easy not to do something cause we don't know how or feel that we're not good enough, and yet Love requires that we step up and reach out.